Rosalind Pendergast
: "It is not as though I'm completely unaware of how the world works." — The Closet Incident Rosalind is the fifth child and third daughter of Philip and Olivia Pendergast. Her family is upper class and staunch blood purists; while Rose herself is neither a blood purist nor classist, she does do her best not to disappoint her family. She has slight bisexual tendencies and her first kiss was with a girl; however, most of her romantic desires are directed at men. She is intelligent, subtle, and kind. She was a Prefect and then Head Girl at Hogwarts. Biography Pre-Hogwarts In June of 1866, Rosalind Laverne Pendergast was born as the fifth child of Philip Pendergast and Olivia née Lestrange. She grew up tucked between William and Ellory, who would later be the years above and below her in school, and did her best to be a good little lady. School Years When she started at Hogwarts she was sorted into Slytherin.In her third year, Rosalind began a friendship with Mr. Leopold Trelawney, a lower class boy a year her senior in Gryffindor. When she was in her fifth year and he in his sixth, they were prefects together. Also in her fifth year Rosalind began receiving anonymous love letters from someone that she eventually began calling Mr. A — A for Anonymous. She quickly fell for the man writing to her, to the point that she was driven to distraction. Her friend Merrythought Galatea eventually locked Rosalind and Leopold in a closet together on the theory (proven to be correct) that Leo might be Mr. A. The pair admitted their feelings for each other and became secretly engaged, intending to elope over the winter holiday. The blizzard that winter prevented their untimely marriage. In April of the 1882, Rosalind's eldest sister Linaeve (twin to Regan) was caught in an affair and disowned. Rose, who had always looked up to her eldest sister, was hit hard by the news. The idea that she could be completely cut off from her family if she married Leo had never been a real possibility in her mind; she always thought that they would somehow be accepted. She began looking for a way to marry Leopold without losing her family, as well as looking into what sort of requirements there were to fulfill her goal of becoming a healer. Unfortunately, in August Rosalind was informed that she was betrothed to Mr. Felix Prewett. That Christmas she gifted him with a copy of Sense and Sensibility because it included a broken betrothal. The gift worked; in January Mr. Prewett broke the betrothal. In February of 1883 Olivia gave birth to a pair of twins, Regina and Warrick. When it was discovered that Leopold Trelawney was actually a Turnbull — and therefore an upper class pureblood heir — Rosalind began to think that she might actually be able to marry him. When her seventh year arrived, Rosalind returned to Hogwarts as Head Girl. The Fall Festival Curse In October of 1883 Rosalind went to the Fall Festival, intending to meet up with Leopold. Unfortunately, the curse transformed Rose into a damsel in distress type Lady, and Leo was transformed into Auberon-Willougby, a villain. The two had not previously even kissed, but that day Rosalind was raped by a man who would never have otherwise behaved in such a manner. The trauma of what occurred was enough to prevent Rosalind from forgetting everything, and she remembered just enough of events to be deeply effected by them. She is in complete denial about the identity of her attacker, although were she even to accept it Rosalind woud at least academically know that it had not been his fault since they were both acting under a curse and not in any way themselves. Husband Hunting Rosalind's status as "damaged goods" put her in the position of needing a husband, and quickly. While she was thankfully not left with child and therefore allowed to finish school, she began searching for a husband as soon as she admitted what happened to her mother. Prospects quickly included Demarcus Argyle, Orpheus Parkinson, Charming Doge, James Herondale, and Javert de Montfault. While any upper class pureblood would technically do (the more prestigeous the family the better), Rosalind held onto hope that she might find a husband who would allow her to become a healer. However, she failed to do so before the end of the summer, and was entered into Pendergast's School for Young Roses in the fall. She was given a private coming out two days after her nineteenth birthday, and continued looking for a husband afterwards. Personality Rosalind is highly intelligent, doing well in her courses and grasping concepts quickly. She has a gift for potions and herbology, and a knack for the parts of alchemy that she can fathom — although she is by no means an alchemic genius! She is very resourceful as well, quick to make the best of any situation she is in. As a Slytherin, she is ambitious and capable of great subtlety. Her ambitions are in the realm of healing, with her particular interests being in Spell Damage and Potion and Plant Poisoning. She is also capable of subtle manipulation of the facts to make things seem how she wants them, as well as hiding her true thoughts and feelings; however, Rosalind is not at heart a manipulative person and only tends to use those skills when she feels that she must. She is naturally athletic, although her physical pursuits have always been perfectly ladylike. Recently, Rosalind has become emotionally damaged. Her visit to the Fall Festival in October of 1883 resulted in her rape, and the memory charm that was part of the curse did not work as well as it should have because of the trauma of that event. As a result she remembers flashes of the attack. Although she generally conceals it, she is now skittish around men. She can push through her fears and for the most part keeps a perfectly ladylike mask in place; however, if a man surprises her, moves towards her suddenly, or is somewhere she does not expect him to be she is prone to jumping or flinching. Notable Relationships Olivia Pendergast While Rosalind loves her mother, 'loving' is not the first word she would use to describe their relationship. More than she loves her, Rosalind respects her mother. Her mother is a strong woman and Rosalind wants to be like her in many ways. She is also very much her own person, although Rosalind knows there are some things — such as the matter of a healing career. Olivia is the only person that Rosalind has confided in about the fact she was attacked at the Fall Festival, and even then she did not divulge any of the specifics. Linaeve Dawson As a child Rosalind was always close with Linaeve and she looked up to her a great deal. Lina entered into an arranged marriage with Mr. Leander Wilkinson on September 7, 1879; Rosalind's closeness to her sister meant that she was aware that the marriage was not a good one. On November 7, 1881 Lina finally bears a son, who is named Wesley Leander and lives for a few hours before passing on. Linaeve is driven mad by his passing and begins carrying around a doll that she believes is her son. When she finally comes out of it, she is even less content to be with her husband. She is discovered having an affair quite publicly in April of 1882 and is promptly disowned and divorced. Rosalind had no further contact with her sister after Linaeve was disowned, going so far as to ignore the one letter Lina sent her. Unknown to the family, Lina marries a different man than the one she was having the affair with as soon as she is divorced, and she bears her new husband a healthy son in August of 1882. Although she passed away in April of 1883, her natal family is unaware of this fact. Ellory Pendergast Ship name: Rosary. Although they were somewhat close before Linaeve was disowned, afterwards Rosalind and her younger sister Ellory became far closer. Rosalind is closer to Ellory than any of her siblings, and enjoys every opportunity to spend time with her. Jeanne Delacour While Rosalind and Jeanne were never particularly close, Jeanne is notable as the girl who kissed Rosalind in the library. Rosalind still is sometimes attracted to women, but chooses not to act on (and usually completely ignores) those feelings. Leopold Turnbull Born Auberon-Willoughby Turnbull, Leo was raised most of his life as Leopold Trelawney. Rosalind and Leopold met in 1878 when he was hit by a bludger at quidditch practice; she bandaged him (he was bleeding) and took him up to the Hospital Wing and they were friends from that point on. The relationship turned romantic when Leo started to send Rose anonymous love notes and they started a correspondence with letters and the language of the flowers. In December of 1881 Rosalind's friend Merrythought Galatea chased Rosalind and Leopold into a closet with enchanted mistletoe, where they talked things out and Rose's suspicions that her secret admirer might be Leo were confirmed. They became engaged, and intended to elope over the winter holiday; however, a blizzard in Hogsmeade prevented them from meeting up to do so. Before returning to school in 1882, Rosalind was informed that she was betrothed to Felix Prewett; however, Leo had also recently discovered that he was not who he thought he was and so quite stressed. They gradually drifted apart. In October of 1883, Leopold attended the Fall Festival with the intention of meeting up with Rosalind. The curse turned her into a helpless damsel and him into a villain, and the result was that Leo raped Rosalind despite this being entirely ''against his nature. Neither one of them is aware that Leopold is the one who raped Rosalind. On April 30, 1884, Leo ended things completely with a note reading "I wish you all the best luck. I just can't. Sorry it took me so long. A". The note was accompanied by a striped carnation and purple hyacinth — No, I can't be with you, sorry. Rosalind responded the next day with altered lines from the same poem that was contained in part in the first love letter Leo sent her: "My Rosalind, my Rosalind, Because a shadow on you falls." Her final letter was accompanied by a pink carnation (I will never forget you) and forget-me-nots. Felix Prewett Rosalind was briefly betrothed, from August of 1882 to January of 1883. From the beginning Rosalind (who was in love with Leopold at the time) hated the situation, although she attempted not to become ''openly hostile. They had only two series of correspondence, one set of letters spanning September of 1882, and the other taking place in early January of 1883 after Rosalind sent Mr. Prewett a copy of Sense and Sensibility for Christmas because it contained a broken betrothal. Their betrothal was ended by mid-January. Charming Doge Ship name: Roar. Rosalind met Mr. Doge shortly before the school coming out ball, and the pair quickly became friends. By summer they were harboring romantic interest, but they fell out of contact by the end of the year. They briefly reconnected in the spring of 1885, even declaring their love through flowers, but by summer they had lost contact again. Mathias Beaumont Ship name: Rosias. In March of 1885 Rosalind met Mr. Beaumont, and the two quickly became friends. Their friendship was interrupted briefly when Witch Weekly speculated that they were a couple (and Mr. Beaumont had just ended a courtship with another woman!), but was revived at a dinner Rose's mother threw at Pendergast's School for Young Roses. He then spent a few months in America touring some of his properties, but after his return they revived their relationship and it quickly turned seriously romantic. In October of 1885 they confessed their feelings for each other for the first time.